Make a Memory
by jensensgirl
Summary: Jeff returns to his hometown and runs into the girl he left six years ago. ONESHOT


ONESHOT:

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It had been awhile since Jeff was back in Cameron. It had been awhile since Jeff was at his own home. His dad had hired a cleaning lady after the incident and his condo was ridiculously clean. No signs of what had happened were visible. He went to his bedroom and it was sterile too. He tentatively went to his closet and found things organized and yet, nothing was thrown out. His boxes of pictures were still there, labeled and alphabetical, put back together as only Matt would know how. He sat on the closet floor and opened the box without a label.

He flipped through the photos. Her smiling face stared back at him. Her serious face staring back at him. The love for him clearly visible in her eyes staring back at him. Pictures going all the way back to junior high of the two of them. They had always been together, where there was one, there was the other. Even when he became more of an outsider and she became the Prom Queen, she never faltered in her love. She never asked more than he could give. She had the faith and courage to believe they could make it through anything. She wanted the long distance relationship when she went to medical school and Jeff trained for the WWE. They'd spent that summer as always, inseparable, until the day she left for Columbia.

Jeff felt in his heart she was better off without him dragging her down. She had dreams of curing cancer, dreams of saving the world, dreams of a nice family with 2.5 kids, a dog with the white picket fence and a two story home in the suburbs. Jeff wanted to be a professional wrestler who traveled the world and purposely let his body take a beating night after night. Sure he wanted a family, sure he wanted kids, but Jeff never saw anything beyond the ring or a double wide for a home. He'd never be there for her and she'd be a single mom 300 days out of the year. It just wasn't fair to her. He was going to sacrifice his greatest love for her own good. He loved her more than his own life, more than his dreams, but he wouldn't be the guy to ruin her dreams. His heart was in such agony he thought he would literally die from a broken heart.

The look on her face said everything. She didn't care if they lived under a bridge or in a mansion behind 10 foot iron gates. She was so shocked she had no reaction. She kissed him, really kissed him. No passion behind it, just all the love she had pushed through and into him. When she pulled away she was different. She had closed the door and he no longer was priority one in her eyes. That look is what broke him. He wanted right there to scream he was wrong, he was stupid, not to leave; but he couldn't. He just stood there, staring as her car pulled away from him, packed with her things for college.

Jeff found the picture he loved most. Matt had taken it and they were lying in a field on a blanket and both had fallen asleep. He was on his back and she was wrapped around him. His arm protectively around her put there by pure instinct. He smiled and stood, headed for the bar. His leather jacket around him, his helmet strapped on, he started his Ducati Monster and rode away from his home. The home he never thought he'd own.

The bar wasn't the typical establishment. It was upscale with silk furniture, various types of alternative music and filled with white collar workers. He liked it because yes, he was stared at and frowned upon, but nobody knew who the hell he was. Stock brokers don't exactly watch wrestling, or so he thought. One could come here and read a book, use their computers, socialize, get away from the daily grind or melt into their surroundings to forget the day. He walked in and got the usual stares but they no longer fazed Jeff, he barely noticed.

His corn rowed blond hair newly shortened still took some getting used too but he liked it. His saggy jeans, black t-shirt, motorcycle boots and gloves stood out against the suits and preppy Dockers of the crowd but he actually laughed at it. He no doubt made more money than any of them and it made him smile. He was still Jeff from the outskirts of Cameron raised by his dad on a small parcel of land in a tiny house. He picked up his beer and headed for the back.

Open mic night meant a wide range of talent would take the stage. Some acted scenes from plays, some read poetry they'd written, some sang and danced. It was nice and relaxing. He rounded a corner and set his sights on a couch that was currently occupied by a woman on one end. He'd just sit at the other end and melt into the wall. As he got closer he knew the hair. He knew the seated position she always sat in when reading. He knew the jaw line as he'd kissed it before, he knew those hands. As if sensing him, she looked up as he approached. Both of their hearts threatened to explode from their chests.

"Norah." He struggled to say, frozen to his spot as if he were back in the 7th grade talking to her for the first time. She dropped her book and didn't even look at it.

"Jeffrey." To say she was stunned would be a huge understatement. She hadn't seen him in six years but he still stirred her like no other man since. He pointed to the other end of the couch and she patted the spot next to her. He took a deep breath and had to mentally tell his legs to move. He sat next to her and picked up her book from the floor getting electric shocks on his fingers as their hands touched when she gratefully accepted her book. (_Hello again, it's you and me, kinda always like it used to be. Sippin' wine, killin' time, tryin' to solve life's mysteries_.)

After the initial nervousness wore off, they chatted as old friends would, catching up on their lives. She admitted she watched wrestling a few times to see the small town boy who made it big. She was in town for her sister's wedding and she'd be returning to Raleigh in three days. She kept glancing at her watch as they spoke as if she needed to be somewhere or was meeting someone soon. He did his best to ignore it but it hurt. It hurt that he wasn't her sole focus. (_How's your life? Its been a while. God, it's good to see you smile. I see you reaching for your keys, looking for a reason not to leave.)_

Norah tried saying goodnight a few times, even going as far as getting her keys from her purse. She just couldn't break way. She couldn't bring herself to say goodbye yet again. She wanted to cry, wanted to run screaming from the bar afraid he'd break her again. His eyes said he regretted every minute since that summer six years ago. His eyes said he'd never loved another. She knew her eyes gave away her heart and that it had never belonged to anyone else. They sat staring at eachother and he reached for her hand. As he made contact, her eyes filled with tears. (_If you don't know if you should stay,  
if you don't say what's on your mind, baby just breathe, there's nowhere else tonight we should be_.)

Jeff took a leap of faith and slowly leaned into her, letting his lips brush against hers. (_You want to make a memory.)_ She inhaled sharply and pulled away. Her eyes searching his, for what she didn't know. He watched her tongue run across her lower lip, watched her taste him. He broke the moment and reached in his back pocket, giving her the picture he'd found. The tears returned and the smile that spread on her face gave him relief. (_I dug up this old photograph, look at all the hair we had. It's bittersweet to hear you laugh. Your phone is ringin', I don't wanna ask_.)

Norah absentmindedly silenced the ringer on her phone as it rang, she was lost in the two crazy in love teenagers in the picture. Jeff reached up and wiped the tears as they fell. He realized at this moment she was all there would ever be for him. Nobody in the past and nobody in the future meant and would mean what Norah meant to him. She was so significant in his life whether she was physically present or not, she occupied him subconsciously. He wrapped his hand around her neck and pulled her temple to meet his lips. He breathed in her scent and let himself fell her skin heat up at his touch.

She looked at her phone. "It's my sister." (_If you go now, I'll understand. If you stay, hey, I've got a plan.)_ Searching his eyes for her next step. Go or stay. Go home or go with Jeff. Norah stood and grabbed his hand, leading him from the bar. They walked to her car and she threw her purse inside locking it as she closed the door. She went to the trunk and pulled out a helmet. That was all he needed and he pulled her to him so fast she squealed. His mouth slammed into hers as the rain began falling and they stood there as time froze around them. Drinking her in, drowning in her, Norah doing the same, erasing the pain, erasing the heartbreak.

He practically dragged her to his bike, helped her climb on and started it in record time. He sped through the streets as safely as he could and headed for their spot. After all these years, his body and mind worked together and knew exactly where to go without words or thought. (_You want to make a memory.  
You want to steal a piece of time. You can sing the melody to me, and I can write a couple o' lines._) He felt her body against him, holding onto him, that well-known, unforgettable feel of her spreading warmth through him. He thought back to the times they'd spent in that open field, she would write and he'd play his guitar. Or he'd write his poetry and she'd hum a song she'd heard on the radio.

He turned onto the gravel road and slowed the bike. His heart was racing in his chest, anxious and eager to get her here, alone. Explain his thoughts that day and everyday since. He stopped and they climbed off. Norah walked through the rain, looking at the flowers in the field, her arms wrapped around her, uncertain of the next five minutes much less the next few years. Jeff walked behind and watched her. She stopped and turned, probing his eyes for a sign this was right. He sensed her apprehension and went to her, purposely standing in her personal space. (_If you don't know if you should stay. And you don't say what's on your mind. Baby just breathe, there's nowhere else tonight we should be_.)

His lips so soft, his kiss so delicious, his body so warm against hers. Her hands slid along under his jacket, familiarizing themselves with his form. His muscles more defined, a few inches taller, his voice a little deeper, and his stance a little more confident. All Jeff. All hers. Norah felt herself melting into him, giving in to the sweetness of the instinctual reaction of her body to his. Surrendering to the sixth sense she had for him. (_You want to make a memory. You want to steal a piece of time. You can sing the melody to me, and I can write a couple o' lines_.)

As he lowered her to the soft, wet grass, they knew this wasn't over, it would never be over. It was too powerful to hide or deny. When his tongue and lips ran over her bare skin after he had leisurely removed her clothes, she yielded all to the man who would always be hers and she would always be his. They would always be linked, always be one unit in two forms, always bonded by the way they knew without a doubt, this was forever. Her Jeff, his Norah.

_You want to make a memory._

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Song courtesy of Bon Jovi


End file.
